Google’s newly opened data centre located in Waltham Cross, has been named Commercial Development of the Year for East of England in the CoStar Impact Awards, handed out by a panel of independent judges, as the firm forges ahead with its wider £5 billion UK investment programme.
The deal, which was described as “one of the most significant injections of tech‑driven economic activity ever seen in Hertfordshire,” is set to bolster economic activity in the Broxbourne area, as well as contributing to the UK’s broader AI infrastructure.
It is predicted that the scheme will create around 8,250 jobs annually across the UK and marks a move by global technology owner-operator Google and its parent company Alphabet into a typically non-tech industrial corridor.
About the project: Google acquired the scheme, which carries a £790 million construction cost, in 2020 as part of its broader UK infrastructure push. Work began on site in January 2024, before the project completed in September 2025.
The facility sits on a 33-acre site, with air-based cooling and waste-heat recovery systems in place to help support AI and Cloud workloads as well as DeepMind R&D.
The sustainability-conscious scheme includes a multi-year energy partnership between Google and Shell Energy Europe, as its UK carbon‑free energy manager for the scheme, with the aim of focusing on clean energy. It plans to do so through the use of renewable energy and battery storage capabilities within the local grid.
Other features include the implementation of Google DeepMind research in the facility’s long‑term R&D footprint, plus the use of high-efficiency cooling technology aimed at reducing water usage and off-site heat recovery with the goal of redeploying the excess heat to local businesses and schools at no cost.
It is equipped for a range of Google brands including Google Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps.
What the judges said: Nick Mansley, executive director, real estate research centre at the University of Cambridge noted the “scale and ambition and actions to be 95% carbon free in operation.”
Katherine Friend, director – investment and asset management at Howard Group, said the site stood out: “Due to its pioneering design particularly in relation to both energy and job generation of over 8,000 new roles.”
They made it happen: Jane Preston, regional facilities manager at Google; Mark Graham, chief operating officer at developers TSL.